#RRBC Spotlight Author Tour: Gracie Bradford!

I’m pleased to introduce and congratulate #RRBC Spotlight tour author: Gracie Bradford! Her book is on my must read list this year! I hope you will add it to your list, too!

As we usher in February 2018 Black History Month, it is fitting to introduce one of Rave Review Book Club Member “up and coming” children book author, Gracie Bradford.

Her book, June the Prune and Lady Bird – Cancer Stinks tell the story of how the love and attention from June’s beagle sustained her sanity through nine months of searching for an effective treatment for brain cancer in a 10-year old. Can June survive the ordeal?

Gracie is an avid reader. As a part of black history month recognition, Gracie shared websites that list black authors. Look at these:

Sadly, Gracie said she does not have a memory of any children picture books written by black authors in the 1950s when she was in pre-school. Although, as a child, Gracie recalls a book entitled “Go Tell It On The Mountain” by James Baldwin. She won a trophy in high school from reciting portions of this book in a literary state competition. At the time, she was unaware of the significance of James Baldwin.

Another favorite book which eventually was made into an award-winning movie was Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. Gracie said she has seen the movie at least six times and have read the book three times. She insisted that her grandson read the book at a young age and then he was given a chance to see the movie.

Gracie’s favorite past-time is traveling to see the world. Would you believe Gracie has traveled to all continents except the Antarctic and she plans to take a trip there in 2019? She informed me that she is going to travel to see all the national parks in the USA in 2018. Her final travel goal is to travel to see the original seven wonders of the world. This author is on the go.

Gracie revealed that her favorite author of poetry is Edgar Allen Poe. She developed a love for poetry in high school. By reading poetry, it became so much easier to learn music for playing her tenor saxophone in the marching band because she felt the poetry was another form of music. She recalls the many solo competition and trophies she won because of the influence of Edgar Allen Poe. Although she no longer plays the saxophone, she still has the memories. She said her favorite poem from Poe is Annabel Lee:

Gracie, I believe that it will be some time before books written by blacks will gain prominence in the world of literature. My concern now is that we should keep writing, keep documenting, and keep correcting all the bad image that books by non blacks have created of blacks. Thank you, D.L. for hosting her. 😀

Great post, Gracie! Roots was and remains one of my favorite reads. Next time you’re Down Under I will have a warm welcome and some Aussie style hospitality waiting for you. Thanks for hosting Gracie today, Denise.🌷

Gracie, that was a great post. I’m not familiar with James Baldwin, but I am quite familiar with Roots. I watched the miniseries, but I also read the book several times. The television show was good, but it left out a lot of significant things from the book that I wish had been included.
I hope you’re having a great time on your tour! 😀

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